P Intrinsic N (PIN) diodes are used commonly in an assortment of commercial and military applications as switches, phase shifters, and attenuators. Currently, no fully integrated high voltage PIN diode driver exists. Instead, conventional systems use discrete power MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors) to achieve the bias current requirement for the high power PIN diodes. The discrete power MOSFETs limit a gate to source voltage to no higher than 20V to 25V. The gate to source voltage limitation requires the addition of a discrete voltage translator to control the high side power MOSFETs. The discrete voltage translation is usually done by resistor dividers and is very slow unless more quiescent power is dissipated. Commercially available full-bridge or half-bridge gate driver ICs cannot be used because bootstrap capacitors are required to form a charge pump to fully shut down the high side MOSFETs. The use of such a charge pump is not acceptable for PIN drivers because the charge in the bootstrap capacitor discharges over time, preventing the PIN diodes from being in the OFF state for a sustained period of time.
It would be desirable to have a high current integrated circuit PIN diode driver that will withstand the higher voltage levels required by the high-energy signal systems found today.